Another holiday tip (free of charge)(you're welcome)

Sometimes it takes a little more effort but try to be aware of the gifts you're giving and how they relate (or don't relate) to the gift receiver.

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AKA: look for gifts that match the receivers race or ethnicity. It's easier now than it ever has been. Just takes a little extra thought and effort to grab one toy off the shelf vs. another.

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*All actors were compensated** for their time.


**and by "compensated", I mean cups overflowing with goldfish crackers as previously agreed upon by this participant's actors guild.

Wanna get me a gift?

Many of you give extra this time of year and sometimes it's overwhelming to know where to give. I thought I'd add a couple options if you're still undecided.

Last year we received an adoption grant from Show Hope. They're a non-profit that awards grants to as many families as they have funds. Dez's adoption was paid off after the grant we received. Click here to donate.

If you'd rather donate to an actual adoption you can watch develop, I happen to know a few peeps going through the process. Weird, huh?

Erik and Jessa Anderson in CA adopting from Ethiopia! Click here to donate.

Bob and Erin Hansel in CO adopting from Uganda! Click here to donate.

Darrell and Kristen Vanzant in TN adopting from Honduras! Click here to donate.

In case you missed it, international adoption is crazy expensive. Each of these three families entered this process not having the funds but trusting God would provide and are now working their hardest to raise funds. We could not have completed either of our adoptions (even the domestic one) without the generosity of others, many of them strangers. Friends of friends. There's people we still meet now that are so excited to meet Eliot, letting us know they contributed. It humbles me. These were the hands and feet of Jesus to us then and even now as we watch E grow up.

Christmas was always a harder season for me as we were growing our family than even Mother's Day. The vacancy of the stocking I so desperately wanted was always looming in front of me. Help ease the wait for these families by contributing to their funds.

I'm secretly hoping to get an email or text saying "A donation was made in your honor to___".

Latergram

My fav Instagrams over the last 9 weeks...feel free to follow me at katielmohr! I'll steal a few from Russ' feed next! If you're not on IG yet, I highly recommend it. We're obsessed about it over here!

Sometimes it's overwhelming...

how thankful I am that I get to be their mom.

FYI

Thanks to the amount of time I spend blocking "anonymous" comments (Spam) from the blog, I changed the settings on here to no longer allow anonymous. Sorry for the inconvenience...

--Management

And also, please look at this pic my friend Amy found on Pinterest.

Holy Desmond Look-alike! It's no wonder even is his shirt that reads "Ladies Man" he still gets mistaken for a girl.

Taking the creepy out of Elf on the Shelf.

If you don't have young kids you may have avoided this new trend.

We, however, are in the thick of it.

Elf on the Shelf.

A couple years ago they came out with a light brown-skinned elf and I bought it on impulse. (Moms of brown children are sometimes suckers for anything resembling their children since it's harder to find than you'd think...)I didn't think through the fact that the child we bought it for has minor anxiety.

We started reading the story to him and realized quickly that:
A. He was getting really freaked out.
B. This was turning into a behavior modification thing and I didn't love that.

Thankfully this was before he could read so I made up the rest of the story and took the book away. So, here's how we combat A and B and why.

A. Eliot's imagination creeps him out sometimes. He loves Toy Story but can't separate the reality from fiction and sometimes gets nervous having toys in his room any bigger than an action figure. Creating a story about an elf who is ALIVE and WATCHING HIS EVERY MOVE (but acting as a statue) just confirmed his irrational fears. So, we remind him almost daily that he's not real and it's just a game of hide and seek. Also, the elf is not allowed in Eliot's room. Ever.

B1. As a former teacher I tend to shy away from temporary quick fixes with behavior*. I don't love manipulating children to behave for the month of December because I don't want to have to come up with another thing to force them to behave in January.

B2: Also, we want Eliot to know that Christmas isn't about him. He can't earn or un-earn (it's a word, I promise) the celebration of Jesus' birth. It happened. We give gifts as an outpouring of our thankfulness. We want Eliot to know he gets presents and celebrates Christmas because he's loved. Plain and simple. He doesn't earn his gifts, he gets them because he's a part of our family. If his behavior during December warrants major action, there's other consequences in place to address those that have nothing to do with the date on the calendar.

We still add Okra (our Elf...full name Okra Homa) to our festivities because Eliot loves the excitement of finding him each morning. (sidenote: I set an alarm on my phone that rings at 9 each night to remind me to move him. Also, Pinterest has tons of creative ideas of places/ways to hide him. Use your resources, people.)

*I'm not above bribery in certain instances. You should have seen the promises made before and during our last photo shoot...

I'm not trying to knock Elf on the Shelf or it's originators or those of you to implement it as is. As it's presented, though, it just doesn't work for our family. We still love it, just an amended version of it.

The chopping block.

Before

11 inches to donate!

After! Went for the asymmetrical bob. As always, fantastic job by Ninfa, my hair lobster.

2012 version of Edward Scissorhands...

I'm fiddling on a roof with all this tradition...

We're running out of wall space...

For more of our sneak peek...click here.

Blogcation.

If I blogged every day, a constant stream of pictures of my beautiful boys doing creative things as a family or on hard hitting topics of which I am well-learned, you'd feel bad about yourself eventually. Constantly asking yourself how I have it all together.

So, my blogcation is a necessity for your self esteem.

That and I have a very.busy.toddler.

And lest you think said toddler is ALWAYS HAPPY, I present to you...

Orphan Sunday

Yesterday was the official "Orphan Sunday" and many of you who attend church saw videos like the one above or (hopefully) listened to a sermon/message on the topic.

Just wanted to extend myself on this as well. My email is katie l mohr at g mail. Thinking about it? Wondering how you can help? Want to contribute in a small way or finally ready to jump in with both feet, I'm happy to talk.

NYC '12!

(Yes, this happened in July, so what? Judgey McJudger.)

Russ' happy place? The gyro food trucks.

My happy place, Brooklyn Bagel. I spend more time here than anywhere else in the city.

Same brick wall, different day. Weird? (@Brooklyn Bagel, um, again.)

It turned into a cousin party on Sunday of our trip. Russ' other cousin Jess lives up in the northeast for the summer so she and her hubs joined us as we headed to Coney Island for the afternoon.

Russ, Jess, Kendall and I rode the Wonder Wheel on Coney Island. Duh.

Had to drop Jess and Kendall at Grand Central so made it priority to find the whispering corners archway. It was super cool. I highly recommend it, then you could be as cool as us.

Monday Russ had meetings during most of the day and evening so Joy and I walked around the city (including the Highline) and ended up at The Frying Pan and Maritime 66 for lunch. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and we had much to catch up on without Russ as our third wheel (just kidding? honey? I love you?) so we stayed there until dinner. Russ eventually met us there and we stayed til sundown.
(It was a plaid skinnies kind of day...)

Joy took me to her fav French bakery. Cuz she loves me, duh.

We had such an amazing trip. I truly love that city. Not sure if it's because of my time with Joy each time I go or if I just really love that city. We'll say both. It really is a win/win.